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Inspirations

Not only do I live in New York City, a metropolis that functions both as a diverse place of residence and a cultural mecca, but in this digital age, compelling visual media is easily accessible at the tap of my fingers. I am immersed in such a rich, dynamic, and kinetic mosaic of creativity that it often becomes challenging to distinguish between true artistic genius and the disguised artificiality that pervades the presence of many on social media. This page is intended to distill my various inspirations down to their most basic forms. Here you’ll find a lineup of my favorite art blogs, websites, Instagram users, and iconic individuals– artists and laymen alike– who continue to spur my passion for art and design, and compel me to rise to new creative heights.

Art Blogs

The Brooklyn version of Artforum or TheArt Newspaper and the grungier sister of E-Flux, Hyperallergicis an intelligent although sometimes humorous forum for analysis of contemporary art and the art world today that is also functions as in-the-know art groupies’ preferred destination for reviews of new shows and cultural events.

The art world’s own virtual encyclopedia website, Artsy,is seriously remarkable. Artsy is the guide to artists, art genres, universal art collections (in both public and private sectors), online galleries, art fairs, and auctions, as well as manifesting in blogazine form.

Art Market Monitorgives regular updates with regards to the business side of the art world, something that is also accomplished by ArtNet News, albeit the latter with more of an emphasis on the art itself and on the global art market, rather than specifically discussing auction prices and job transitions.

Vulture’sart tab has some exciting articles if Jerry Saltz’s comic flair does not aggravate you too much; for a more tasteful approach, I suggest taking a peek at Pari Ehsan’s Pari Dust, a beautiful and intriguing site showcasing editorials by Ehsan wherein she attends various museum and gallery exhibitions, coordinating her attire and makeup with the displayed works. Ehsan collaborates with various designers, stylists, and photographers in the process of generating her wonderful shoots, resulting in images full of strength, whimsy, and a bewitching elegance. Should you find her descriptions of the artwork that accompany each editorial abstruse to an unnecessary degree, do not simply write it off as in the very nature of her job. It seems to me that a common side-effect of writing about art is that one attempts to sound so pedagogical and overly perceptive that the nuances one is attempting to convey with accuracy are rendered completely incomprehensible and fragmented, to the extent that the reader must beg the question of why the writer bothered with them in the first place. My own rule of thumb: when it becomes clear that a text is talking about nothing, seek out corresponding imagery to clarify the writer’s larger intentions.

One of the Metropolitan Museum of Art‘s latest and greatest feats is the Artist Project, now in its sixth season, that follows famous artists of our time around the Met as they explain why certain pieces or rooms specifically speak to them and to their work. Watch a single episode and you’ll be hooked; it’s like Netflix for the right side of the brain.

Instagram Users

Instagram serves me well as a vehicle for reflection on my own interactions with art and as a way of receiving a daily dose of arts and culture via a quick, digestible medium. Photography has grown in importance to me due to my frequent engagement with the camera and with the art of the snapshot as a result of a strong desire to present a certain aesthetic sensibility on Instagram. Instagram is rife with boundless innovation and in some sense it is challenging to not feel sucked into the very unique although synthetic spheres of creativity that users construct.

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About this site

MolaPola was founded in the spring of 2014 by Moselle Kleiner as a way of chronicling her ongoing exploration of museums, galleries, and art shows around the globe. As of 2017, the site concentrates on bringing fresh perspectives to art world issues. Thank you for visiting MolaPola! Please note that images and writing belongs to Moselle Kleiner unless otherwise specified.